Community Partnership for Relief and Development (COPRED)

Community Partnership for Relief and Development (COPRED) is a local Malawian non-governmental organization (NGO) that was founded in August 2000. The organization got registered as The Registered Trustee of Community Partnership for Relief and Development under the registered Trustee Incorporations Act 5:03 of the Laws of Malawi (Registration #: TR/INC/1591) on 30Th April 2003. COPRED is also registered with the NGO Board of Malawi, Council for Non-governmental Organizations in Malawi (CONGOMA) and the District Civil Society Networks in Blantyre, Mwanza and Neno District Councils. COPRED VISION To contribute towards creating a healthy and self-reliant Malawian community with special focus on women and children COPRED MISSION To build a knowledgeable and empowered community that is able to identify, plan and solve own problems and actively and tirelessly contribute to national development through the on-going community development initiatives. Focus areas COPRED has been implementing community development program contained in a development package entitled Sustainable Livelihoods Development Program (SLDP) that is designed to respond to diverse root, basic, immediate and underlying causes of poverty which is directly responsible for the declining livelihoods. COPRED Sustainable Livelihoods Development Program (SLDP) has three (3) core program areas which are as follows: - Health - Education - Livelihoods Brief description of each of the above core program areas: Health – under this core programmatic area, COPRED is implanting: a) Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) through drilling and rehabilitation of wells, b) Menstrual hygiene for adolescent girls, construction of sanitation facilities (toilets, handwashing stations, refuse-pits, dishracks, bathrooms and kitchens). c) Nutrition – under nutrition COPRED is implementing both specific and sensitive nutrition interventions, supported by nutrition education and under-five services, d) HIV prevention and care – under this core area COPRED is implementing targeted HIV risk reduction awareness interventions, HIV treatment literacy and referral to treatment-care and support of the infected and the affected. Education - under this core programmatic area, COPRED is implementing inclusive education promoting early stimulation and early learning for school readiness targeting children aged 3-5years through Centre-based ECD approach focusing on Literacy, numeracy, mathematics and basic science. COPRED is also promoting early stimulation and learning delivered through Community-based ECD-CCD approach targeting children aged 0 to 3 years. COPRED supports most needy but brilliant students, in both boarding and day primary and secondary education schools by paying school fees, scholastic materials and upkeep. Livelihoods - under this core programmatic area, COPRED is promoting conservation farming, providing inputs to most needy farm families, providing livestock through a pass-on approach as safety-nets, home gardens, promoting restoration and conservation of bare area, water catchments, homesteads village forests, riverbanks and watersheds through forestation and reafforestation activities. COPRED is also implementing economic empowerment by promoting small businesses using village savings and loans (VSL) groups as forums for generating capital. COPRED uses livelihoods interventions to mobilize the community to establish village child protection committees, ECD centre management committees, village disability committees, village natural resource conservation committees, village health committees, agriculture field schools and water points management committees.